No Self?
Few Buddhist teachings create more confusion than the teaching of anatta, often translated as “no-self.”
People sometimes hear it and conclude: “Buddhism says I don’t exist.” But you’re clearly sitting here reading this, so Buddhism isn’t asking us to deny the obvious. The teaching points toward something subtler.
Think about who you were twenty years ago. Your body was different, your beliefs were different, your fears may have been different and your relationships changed. Along with that shift your knowledge changed, your preferences changed and even the many cells composing your body changed.
Yet throughout all that change we continue saying: Me.
Buddhism asks us to investigate what exactly that “me” is.
When we look closely, instead of discovering one permanent object called the self, we discover processes.
Thoughts.
Memories.
Sensations.
Emotions.
Perceptions.
Habits.
Physical form.
Consciousness.
All continually changing.
The problem isn’t having a personality or using the word “I.” Those are perfectly useful. The difficulty begins when we construct an identity and then desperately try to defend it.
“I am successful.”
“I am a failure.”
“I am attractive.”
“I am unlovable.”
“I am important.”
“I am the person who was hurt.”
Suddenly something fluid becomes something solid. And solid identities require constant protection. Understanding non-self can actually be wonderfully liberating. If there is no fixed version of you, then yesterday doesn’t completely define today.
You can learn, you can change and you can release beliefs that no longer serve you. You aren’t required to spend the remainder of your life defending a character created by your history.
The Buddhist teaching of non-self isn’t saying that you are nothing. It suggests that what you call “you” is far more fluid, interconnected and alive than you imagine.
You are not a finished sculpture – you are unfolding conditions. And within that understanding lies an extraordinary possibility:
Not only are you an amazing, growing human – You are change itself.
Peace and Love, Jim
#self #thedailybuddha #tdb
